More time granted to bring indictment in Marriott slaying

DOVER — Prosecutors have been granted another two months to prepare their case against the Dover man accused of killing University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth Marriott.

A Strafford County judge signed off last week on a request from officials at the New Hampshire Attorney General's office to push the date by which the state must bring an indictment against Seth Mazzaglia into April.

Mazzaglia, now 30, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Marriott's death.

Prosecutors allege Marriott was either strangled or suffocated by Mazzaglia inside his apartment on Mill Street the night she went missing.

The 19-year-old UNH sophomore was last seen on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Mazzaglia was arrested days later, as police concentrated their search for Marriott's body in the waters off New Hampshire's coast.

Administrative rules in the superior court system stipulate that judges must dismiss pending charges against a defendant if no indictment is brought within 90 days of an arrest.

Last month, a superior court judge extended the timeline, granting prosecutors until the end of February to present their case against Mazzaglia to a grand jury.

Prosecutors asked for a second extension earlier this month. A Strafford County judge granted the request on Friday, Feb. 8. The ruling will allow prosecutors to wait until the April 18 session of the Strafford County grand jury to present the evidence that allegedly links Mazzaglia to Marriott's death.

Prosecutors sought the extension to “complete certain investigative steps” and continue interviewing witnesses, according to court documents. The results of certain tests are also still pending.

Mazzaglia's attorneys from the public defender's office are reviewing hundreds of pages of police reports, witness interviews and other evidence collected in the murder case, according to court documents. Prosecutors have provided his defense team with more than 1,200 pages of police reports.

Other discovery materials produced in the case include laboratory reports and 12 disks containing audio recordings and other “digital data,” according to court documents.